Investigations of high melting temperature materials in an ultra-high purity state is best conducted by maintaining a material sample in a molten state while it is isolated from potential sources of contamination. A sample can be levitated, or held in place, in a microgravity environment such as exists in an orbiting space vehicle, by several techniques. One levitation technique involves the application of an acoustic standing wave within a container, but this requires the sample to be immersed in a gaseous medium which could contaminate it, and also results in high-frequency disturbances to the sample from the high-frequency acoustic energy. In addition, it is very difficult to heat the levitated sample. Another technique involves the directing of electron or ion beams at the sample, but this can result in the injection of the electrons or ions into the sample which can affect its characteristics. A system which could levitate a molten object to avoid its contact with the walls of a solid container, which minimized or avoided contact of the molten object with even subatomic particles that have masses, while minimizing disturbances of the levitated object, would be of considerable value. Any such system which could maintain the object at an elevated temperature while levitating it, using relatively low-cost devices, would be of considerable value.